| 2022 European Youth Winter Olympic Festival | |
| Host City: | Vuokatti, Finland |
| Nations: | 46 |
| Sports: | 9 |
| Events: | 39 |
| Opened By: | Sauli Niinistö |
| Athlete Oath: | Arttu Juusola |
| Torch Lighter: | Vilma Nissinen |
| Stadium: | Vuokatti Arena[1] |
| Spreviouss: | Baku 2019 |
| Snexts: | Banská Bystrica 2022 |
| Wprevious: | Sarajevo-East Sarajevo 2019 |
The 2022 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival was held in Vuokatti, Finland,[2] between 20 and 25 March 2022.[3] The festival was postponed from original dates in February to December 2021.[4] Later it was announced that the games will be moved to 2022 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.[5] Vuokatti previously hosted 2001 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival.
The Opening Ceremony was held outside Vuokatti Areena. The Flame of Peace was carried to the stage by former biathlete Kaisa Mäkäräinen and former cross-country skier Matti Heikkinen. It was finally lit by young cross country skier Vilma Nissinen.
President of the Republic of Finland Sauli Niinistö gave the opening speech and declared the event opened. Also President of the European Olympic Committees Spyros Capralos and Mayor of Sotkamo Mika Kilpeläinen delivered speeches. The participating countries entered the ceremony in the flag parade. The dance group Kajaani Dance held a performance with the official song of the festival, "Long in to the Night".
The following competitions took place
| Venue | Location | Sports | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vuokatti slopes | Vuokatti | Alpine skiing, Snowboarding | |
| Vuokatti Sport Biathlon Stadium | Vuokatti | Biathlon, Cross country skiing | |
| Vuokatti Arena | Vuokatti | Figure skating, Short track speed skating | |
| Kajaanin jäähalli | Kajaani | Ice hockey | |
| Lahti Sports Center | Lahti | Nordic combined, Ski jumping |
The competition schedule for the 2022 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival is as follows:
| OC | Opening ceremony | 1 | Event finals | CC | Closing ceremony | ● | Event competitions |
| March | 20 Sun | 21 Mon | 22 Tue | 23 Wed | 24 Thu | 25 Fri | Events | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ceremonies | OC | CC | |||||||||||
| Alpine skiing< | --20--> | bgcolor=#ffcc00 | 2 | bgcolor=#3399ff | ● | bgcolor=#ffcc00 | 1 | bgcolor=#ffcc00 | 2 | 5 | |||
| Biathlon< | --20--> | bgcolor=#ffcc00 | 2 | bgcolor=#ffcc00 | 2 | bgcolor=#ffcc00 | 1 | 5 | |||||
| Cross-country skiing< | --20--> | bgcolor=#ffcc00 | 2 | bgcolor=#ffcc00 | 2 | bgcolor=#ffcc00 | 2 | bgcolor=#ffcc00 | 1 | 7 | |||
| Figure skating< | --20--> | bgcolor=#3399ff | ● | bgcolor=#ffcc00 | 2 | 2 | |||||||
| Ice hockey< | --20--> | bgcolor=#3399ff | ● | bgcolor=#3399ff | ● | bgcolor=#3399ff | ● | bgcolor=#3399ff | ● | bgcolor=#ffcc00 | 1 | 2 | |
| Nordic combined< | --20--> | bgcolor=#ffcc00 | 1 | bgcolor=#ffcc00 | 1 | bgcolor=#ffcc00 | 1 | 3 | |||||
| Short track speed skating< | --20--> | bgcolor=#ffcc00 | 2 | bgcolor=#ffcc00 | 2 | bgcolor=#ffcc00 | 3 | 7 | |||||
| Ski jumping< | --20--> | bgcolor=#ffcc00 | 1 | bgcolor=#ffcc00 | 2 | bgcolor=#ffcc00 | 1 | 4 | |||||
| Snowboarding< | --20--> | bgcolor=#3399ff | ● | bgcolor=#ffcc00 | 2 | bgcolor=#3399ff | ● | bgcolor=#ffcc00 | 2 | 4 | |||
| Total events | 4 | 9 | 4 | 9 | 12 | 39 | |||||||
| Cumulative total | 5 | 14 | 18 | 27 | 39 | ||||||||
| March | 20 Sun | 21 Mon | 22 Tue | 23 Wed | 24 Thu | 25 Fri | Events |
On 28 February 2022, the IOC further called for Russian and Belarusian athletes not to be allowed to participate due to Russian invasion of Ukraine.[6] On 2 March 2022, however, in accordance with a recommendation by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), EOC suspended the participation of Belarus and Russia from 2022 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival.[7] Russia and Belarus however participated in boys' ice hockey tournament held in December 2021 and both won medals in it.